Cameron Greenwood
Matthew Ardill
Paul Turcotte
Jonathan Lum
Gabe Carvalho
University of Guelph
Ruben Burga
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Clean Cut Energy provides, installs, and manages submetering systems for thousands of clients, primarily concentrated in Ontario, Canada. Their innovation is their unique wireless water metering system is designed to provide cost effective, timely, accurate and understandable data to consumers so that they can make intelligent decisions about their water usage. The system helps reduce the amount of water consumed by residents, reducing wastewater and pollution assisting with SDGs 12(responsible consumption and production), 11(Sustainable Cities and Communities), and 14(Life on Water).
Clean Cut Energy’s innovation is their wireless water metering systems in combination with their innovative software platform which they design, manufacture, and install into residential, commercial, or industrial buildings. The system helps clients stay on top of their water usage by providing them with timely and accurate data. The system is fully integrated into the building and helps customers ensure their water is being used efficiently by providing tracking information on a customer-centric user-friendly interface. With this information customers can optimize their water consumption to minimize their expense whether it is residential, commercial, or industrial.
The reduced water consumption correlates with a reduction in wastewater and contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals including Responsible consumption/production (goal 12). The optimized consumption of water contributes specifically to objectives 12.2, 12.5 and 12.6 by enabling customers to better manage their water consumption, minimize waste, and have sustainable practices.
Other Sustainable Development Goals are consequentially achieved such as sustainable cities/communities (goal 11), and life below water (goal 14). Objectives 11.3 and 11.6 are facilitated as the innovation is most effective with dense communities, improving the city planning sustainability and per capita effect on the environment. Objectives 14.1 are achieved consequently, if everyone can better track and reduce water consumption then by default less wastewater is generated and drained into local rivers, lakes and ocean reducing the marine pollution.
Mike's main inspiration for starting his company Clean Cut Energy came from his time doing energy audits with firms from his previous work. These audits tended to be done on large buildings and he often struggled with effectively collecting the data the team needed to get a good picture of how efficiently the building was operating. Inverting the problem, “What if we were a utility, then we would have access to all the information we need to help make these buildings more efficient and we could notify them when something fails.” That change in perspective was the basis for creating the submetering business.
Mike wanted to make water management something anyone can do so condo owners and property owners could have a “dollar and cents perspective” when it comes to tracking their water usage. Through this, he wanted to have a system that alerts and notifies consumers when water usage spikes, so homeowners aren’t surprised by a big utility bill.
This innovation is very powerful due to the network that Mike, and his team have been able to create. Through the wireless network he can not only cut down on costs but provide quick accurate readings on specific water usage points within the building. One unique feature of their software platform is that it is capable of helping a customer benchmark in -house appliance costs. For example, if someone wants to know how much their dishwasher costs to run, they can use the Clean Cut Energy customer platform to to monitor the operation of their dishwasher and determine the cost of operation. Submetering has been shown to reduce overall water consumption in multi-residential buildings by up to 25%.
For the long-term impact of this product, when installed in a community of townhouses or multiple condo units. On a macro level, Clean Cuts metering system services over 6000 customers helping greatly reduce the amount of wastewater that is produced by those customers. That in turn keep gallons of wastewater out of the communities’ local rivers, lakes, and oceans minimizing the damage done to the environment.
Due to this up-to-date efficient monitoring system, users are then able to make more conscious choices on what water conscious products they use in their homes. They will also be interested in staying on top of the water bill by using their data report for the month. Given the amount of clean water we have in Ontario and Canada, this product really allows users to be more mindful of their impact.
The Waterfactor wireless water metering system is extremely low cost and is optimized for installation in multi-residential buildings unlike most traditional Municipality wide automatic reading systems. The cost of a wireless node is typically less than the cost of cup of coffee per month making it virtually invisible to the customer. The system was originally designed to provide quick, useful, understandable information for customers to optimize their water consumption and to help them detect any issues such as leaks. By focusing on both quality and accuracy with their system, Clean Cut was able to leverage the unique design as a competitive advantage within the market. Clean Cut can keep costs down, improve customer satisfaction, and open new opportunities for revenue.
This wireless mesh network requires no additional infrastructure to install making it affordable for multi-residential buildings. It is low maintenance and compatible with most existing water meters in modern buildings. The infrastructure requirement is very minimal with only a gateway, wireless nodes, water meters, and internet connection to operate the entire system with device batteries being able to last up to 20 years the product can stay self-sustained with minimal maintenance. The system is especially effective in medium to high-density areas being able to service up to 6 water meters with one wireless node, again reducing capital cost. All included these improvements in their system allow Clean Cut Energy to keep costs down for themselves and customers and maximize access to data which is what the core benefit to the customer.
Another component of the innovation is the software which was designed to improve customer accessibility and usability. The software was designed to detect any abnormalities in the water flow throughout your house while also providing user-friendly data to the consumer via their online platform. Consumers can easily track and understand their water usage while proactively tackling any leakage or maintenance issues. This improvement facilitates customer satisfaction as they can save money with little to no effort. With the system being designed to provide quality and satisfaction to all their customers, it also helps facilitate marketing by word of mouth. By emphasizing quality for their new system, customers will spread story of their savings and satisfaction with the product to neighbours, friends, and family. Revenue opportunities will continue to open for Clean Cut Energy as these people seek out the product their peers are raving about.
Wireless water metering systems provide both society and the environment with multiple benefits. The device helps Clean-Cut Energy’s clients improve water efficiency, reduce waste, and decrease expenses mainly targeting SDG 12 for responsible consumption/ production of water. However, there are multiple positive aspects to this because there are savings being discovered that can be used for good as well as more responsible management of natural resources.
As a direct impact, reduced water consumption will in turn reduce the amount of pollution and wastewater put back into the environment. The innovations detection software and data collection ensure there is no unnecessary wastewater being leaked into the environment or drainage system undetected. That results in less water required for water treatment plants, and less contaminants that potentially enter the environment. Also, conserving drinkable water is an important consequence as it can help with water scarcities around the world. This forwards objectives of SDG 14 for life below water as a decrease of wasted water allows for more clean natural water in our lakes and rivers.
Decreasing water expenses creates newfound savings that can be put towards other sustainability efforts. This money could be used to find other areas where energy efficiency could be improved. For example, the savings could be redirected to converting new developments to green energy sources instead of fossil fuel, greenhouse gas producing energy sources. For example, if an industrial complex is now saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on their water bill, they can then invest into building solar panels, other metering systems and R&D into more resource efficient technologies to reduce their environmental impact. This targets SDG 11 (sustainable communities and cities) through this metering system existing developments can minimize their water consumption, while new developments can be adjusted to leverage the innovation to design integral infrastructure in a resource efficient manner.
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Mike Kazmaier, P. Eng, Director of Operations
Clean Cut Energy is a submetering firm based in Guelph, Ontario that designs, installs and monitors submetering systems for many different utilities including electricity, water, thermal energy, and natural gas. These systems are primarily designed for residential and commercial developments to track their usage. Clean Cut also provides utility audits for industrial and commercial clientele to help develop long-term management plans.